The Original Roster
Start [Jan/Feb 1995] to Walpurgis Night/Demo Release Party [April 30, 1995]
Tony Breeden - Vocals.
Jamie "Jaymz" Nichols - Guitar
Brett Green - Bass
Davy Cain (1971-2017) - Drums
Before MIDIAN
MIDIAN was technically preceded by an acoustic band called Kayman's Shame, which was really just Jamie and Tony (and later Brett, whom Jamie more or less taught to play bass), informally performing songs from previous bands along with a new song called "An Hour Ago."
Jamie and Tony had already a history of bands together, including Usher A.D. and Mind Warp. Jamie also played bass for a show in another band fronted by Tony, Altared Fate. Anyway, Kayman's Shame was basically an acoustic MIDIAN without a drummer.
The Name
MIDIAN was born when we added Davy to the roster. The band's first decision was to change the name. We went through several different ideas at Davy's residence in Vienna, WV (Tony & the Tones was jokingly suggested), until we settled on MIDIAN. The idea for the name was derived from a story Tony's brother, Greg Breeden, told about Asylum's lead vocalist, Jamie Fletcher. According to the story, Fletcher had done an interview with Graffiti magazine in which he said Asylum was getting ready to go on their Lock Up Your Daughter Tour. He also listed a few songs from their new album, including "Locked Without a Key," "The Search for Midian" and others. He then told his band they had to write those songs! Whether true or not, it was a good story. MIDIAN sounded good. It was mentioned in the Bible. It was also "where the monsters are" by way of Clive Barker. People could make of it what they wanted.
The Beginning
Davy bought a drum set and a Shure microphone, among other things. Jamie and Tony had moved to a house on Camden Avenue in Parkersburg, WV. The house's basement had walls that were lined with foil insulation. After deciding the name, we spent more time practicing than performing. The "tin foil basement" was our first practice place. We wrote the majority of our songs there. It was certainly the inspiration for the song "Wrapped in Foil."
The prevailing wisdom at the time was that a successful local act had to do a lot of covers. I had an epiphany back in high school when I saw Mercenary [one of Adam Smith's early bands] play the Williamstown High School talent show and blow the doors off the place with a mostly original set list. I saw it again when I saw a trio comprised of Kevin Hanna, Kenny Bartlett and Davy Cain play an all original set at a Battle of the Bands. I forget the name of the band, but I came away humming their songs, especially "Who" and "She." Local favorite Jet Black was awarded the top prize by the judges, but all I remember about them was that they did covers.
I realized then that it made absolutely no sense that a band should promote a lot of other bands' music in order to be successful. That might be what bar and club owners wanted, but it was a short-term strategy at best.
Back when Jamie and I formed Mind Warp, we gave my strategy a try. We did a few covers but we concentrated on writing a full set for the Smoot Theater's up-coming Battle of the Bands. Though the band fell apart afterward, the show was a success. I heard people making the same sort of comments about the songs that I overheard after Mercenary's show. Naturally, when MIDIAN came along I wanted to put that strategy into play.
I wrote almost all of the lyrics for MIDIAN's songs. Our usual method for writing songs was to come up with the music and then add lyrics. The rest of the band would literally play a piece over and over, getting it down in the process, while I wrote lyrics.
The first song we ever wrote for MIDIAN was "I Just Might," a punk song about the cycle of rage and helplessness I felt being bullied throughout my childhood until I became a metalhead in high school. It became our standard opener until we eventually wrote "When I Wake Up."
"I'd Do It All Again" was also referred to as our Faster Pussycat song because my vocal style mirrored Taime Down's on this one. It's a mean-spirited punk song about a heartless cheater.
"#1" (aka "Do Unto Others") was yet another punk song, this one styled after Glen Danzig vocally. It was a predictablly nihilistic and unimaginative song about looking out for yourself.
"Armageddon Is Near" was notable for the extreme tone shift from our other songs. I used a husky bass voice inspired by Type O Negative's Peter Steele during the verse and then moved into a higher snarling voice inspired by Megadeth's Dave Mustaine. Songs featuring me shifting my vocals like that became part of our signature sound, at least for many songs. The song was dark, being an attempt to parse out what happened during the 1993 fiery death of cult leader David Koresh's Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. My take was cynical, suggesting both sides were at fault.
"Sign My Name" ultimately became one of our most popular songs, maybe even our most popular. It was a simple power ballad. It came to mean a lot of things to a lot of people: everything from the search for meaning to vampires. The truth was that it was written about the feelings I had when my grandmother died the previous year on September 30, 1994. The song ambled from an acoustic set of two verse-chorus sets to another run through the same two verse-chorus sets with distortion. It never felt quite complete with just two verses so I think we added the second set to make the song more the length we felt it should be. Post-MIDIAN, I eventually wrote a third verse, a farewell verse to.both my grandmother and the band itself.
The few cover songs we performed at the time were "All By Myself," "F.O.D.," and "Longview" by Green Day and "Skulls" by the Misfits. It should be said that the lyrics we sang to "Skulls" wasn't exactly right. They were pulled from Brett and possibly Davy's memory and they were a bit off. I had no idea. I distinctly recall singing, "Demon I am and the faith I seek/Keep twisting inside out/Cause I've got to have you on my wall/We're out tonight." Those aren't the actual lyrics.
As an impetus to practice and write songs, Tony called up Brass Works and asked about playing a gig there. We were told that we could audition on Open Mic Night two months from then; if we were good enough, we could get a gig. It was make it or break it, so we put everything we had into practicing over the next few months. We had some pretty big dreams. I remember there being a couple self-made interviews on tape, maybe even on video. I kept careful record of practices, lyrics and such in the Band Log, which would also come to include fliers, set lists and notes from gigs.
Unfortunately, I later entrusted the Band Log to Jamie Nichols, who takes all things for granted.
The Darker Demo
Darker, the band's first demo, was recorded either shortly before or after that first Brass Works gig at Jon Siders' [Brett's uncle] residence in Point Pleasant, WV, presumably to help us line up gigs. Jamie picked out the cover art, that old man's eyes and Tony designed the band's logo and the rest of the cassette liner. The name of the demo was also his idea, possibly before we ever wrote "Darkness is Coming." We know that "Sign My Name," "I'd Do It All Again," "I Just Might," "Armageddon is Near," "Black Rain," and "Mr. Frost," and "Vampire" [aka the only song Jamie sang on an official MIDIAN rrecording] were on the demo. There were either 8 or 10 songs on that demo total. The liner included two quotes. "We are the Music Makers and we are the Dreamers of Dreams," by poet Arthur O'Shaunessy and quoted by Gene Wilder's Willie Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1971) and "Living, I was your plague. Dying, I shall be your death," a quote Martin Luther chalked onto his cell in 1954 on the eve of his death, and later utilized in the tales of Edgar Allan Poe. There may've been a drawing of a plague rat by yours truly.
First Photos
There was no denying that we were serious-minded about MIDIAN. In addition to the ridiculously grueling practice schedule and the demo tape, we took promo shots for a press kit. Loretta Cain, Davy's wife took the photos at the Parkersburg Memorial Gardens cemetery near Parkersburg High. Those, of course, were lost forever.
First Show
When the fateful night at Brass Works came, we got up on stage to cat-calls. "Send those boys home!" We looked young (one of us wasn't even old enough to be in the bar, a fact we kept to ourselves) and probably looked scared. I think we kicked it off with "I Just Might." I also know we played "Mind's Eye" and "Sign My Name." I can't remember what else. There was a "band log" that had all of our lyrics and gigs and even set lists, but it no longer exists. All I know is that we watched everyone's faces change. Blessed Altar was there. They were among those heckling us in the beginning.
Brassworks (photo credit: Google Maps 2019)
Everyone was impressed when we got through, but there was no gig. It was the wrong kind of music or something. Brass Works' regular crowd liked bar bands like Jimmy Clinton & the Mean Red Spiders. Blessed Altar couldn't catch a break either.
Sportsman's Lounge Gig
We did manage to land a gig at the Sportsman's Lounge, located beside Parkersburg High School. Back in the day, the building had been an all-ages hangout called The Ozone.
The Ozone (1990-91)
The guy at the Sportsman's only liked one song off our demo, "Black Rain," but we were in. The crowd there was hostile, but we pulled it off somehow.
Jamie and Davey
Jamie experiments
Brett gets into it
Jamie and Tony
Brett strikes a pose
Me (Tony) and Brett
Davey and Brett. The MIDIAN banner is in the background.
There was cake!
This one was recorded on video, but we only have a few photos of the event. The photos focus on Brett and Jamie with Davey and I barely visible in some shots. If you look closely, you can also see pieces of our original hand painted MIDIAN banner Jamie performed his song "Vampire" here, but I think that may've been the only time.
We played with Death by Daisys at this gig, which, of course, meant that we had to split the door cover charge with them. Their lead singer was Sam Hyde. Davy's brother, John Cain, was also in the band. Crystal the Pistol sang a couple songs with them, including "The Bomb" by L7. I honestly don't remember her last name and I don't recall the reason she was called that.
The End
Our last gig with the original roster was on April 30, 1995, aka "Walpurgis Night," which was also the name of one of our songs. This was also the first time we performed "Darkness Is Coming."
The show was performed at the Cedar Grove Community Center in Cedar Grove, WV.
Cedar Grove Community Building
(Photo Credit Google Maps 2022)
It was meant as the demo release party for Darker.
There was a lot riding on this gig. We weren't making that much money and much of the bill was being footed by Davy and his wife. We had one of the best stages we'd ever played on, but turnout was poor. We should've expected as much, especially given that we were playing in the middle of nowhere and we hadn't yet have built our brand.
At the end of the gig, the band pinwheeled out of control. Davy and Loretta demanded all of the money from the gig to cover their losses. They'd paid for the promo shots, Davy's drum set, the microphone and maybe even rental of the venue that night. I think we agreed that the venue needed to be paid before the split, but I'm pretty sure we called for an even split. Either way, it got ugly. Davy quit and they took the microphone.
We thought that was the end of it, but it wasn't. Shortly after, Davy, Loretta and some of the members of Death by Daisys (John and Keith) came by Jamie's house. I [Tony] was alone. They forced their way in, threatened me, and took a bunch of the Darker demos. They kept trying to agg on a fight, telling me that Sam was a better singer than me and even slapping me at one point, but I couldn't fight that many guys at once. When they left, I was still in one piece. Jamie refused to call the cops.
A couple nights later, Keith and John drove up while the lights were off. Angie was alone in the house. When they saw her in the window, they threw a beer bottle at the house and drove off.
And that was that.
In Memorium
Years later, when I contacted Davy about the legacy page and the re-discovered recording, he apologized for the whole fiasco. This had been his last shot at a band and it hit him harder and made him angrier than he intended. He revealed that sometime after he was out of the band, Loretta gave him an ultimatum: the family or his band stuff. He made his choice and got rid of the tapes and everything else associated with MIDIAN. She divorced him anyway.
In Memorium
Davy died in August of 2017.
His son wrote the following about Davy and MIDIAN:
"He was an amazing person and father very talented when it came to playing drums. He kept with the same style of music through out his entire life. He told me bout the whole band and what his life was like back then. I got some crazy photos of him which I'll cherish my entire life."
It should also be said that Davy Cain's drum style set the tone and pace for every drummer that followed him. We wrote fully half of MIDIAN's songs in that tin foil basement with Davy. Any drummer following him was not only learning the parts he'd established but also continuing in that style when we wrote new songs. He put everything he had into those songs and don't think we appreciated that enough in the days that followed.
Now What?
Back in 1995, without a drummer [and some other equipment], MIDIAN's fate was uncertain.
But MIDIAN wasn't done yet.
